Being aware of your surrounding means more than just watching what is in front of you. When you are sitting in a restaurant eating you would notice someone standing on top of a table singing – however you may not take notice to the amount of food on one’s plate or water/beverage levels of the people sitting around you before you sit down. When you walk into the library or public book store you will notice others reading books, talking quietly in the corners and aisles; however you might not see or take notice of the person holding a book that is upside down, or a person sitting with a book in their hands but not reading it. When you walk into the bathroom, you might take notice of the people washing their hands or a door on a toilet stall being open, and miss the bag placed near the stall slightly under the divider or sink counter or sitting in the corner unattended. Watching the action of others around you while you are in your environment is difficult however not impossible to do as shown on paydaychampion`s website .
Follow these 3 simple steps to help increase awareness.
1. Prior to walking inside any location – stop for a few seconds and say to yourself – Remain Alert; scan your environment as you walk through the door step to the left or the right as you clear it and look around the room for things that try so hard to blend in or stick out like the small things I mentioned above. Select a few things you can return to as a reference; like number of people in line, people sitting near the exits, a person sitting by themselves etc..
2. As you conduct your business no matter where you are, pause for a minute and return to those landmarks you selected to monitor the gradual change you should see like the line slowly getting thinner, same group in the aisle and the person sitting alone. If you look at the line and see the line gone continue to scan for the cashier if all of a sudden the cashier is not there, the line is gone – then something is happening for you to take notice
3. Limit the distractions you have as you go through your day. Reduce the texting while walking, talking on the phone, walking with your head down. Do your best to create the level of assertiveness needed when in public and do your best to walk with your head up and eyes open, read more about us. Here is a reminder of why this is important.